Fishing, fleece and booze on the Faroes

Today was national flag day in the Faroe Islands, so pretty much everything closed at midday. A flag might seem like an unusual reason to have a national holiday, although probably no more unusual than Australia shutting down on 25th April to commemorate a battle that went horribly wrong in Turkey in 1915. Unsurprisingly, the Faroese national flag day is also linked to war. On 25th April 1940, the British approved the use of the ensign for Faroese vessels. This wasn't entirely an act of altruism on the part of the British, they wanted to use the Faroes as a base from which to wrest control of northern Europe from the Nazis.

Getting alcohol in the Faroes is not exactly easy at the best of times. In fact, on national flag day, it's downright impossible. A government business has monopoly over the sale of alcohol in bottle shops and they have fairly rigid opening hours. I'm led to believe that up until 1992, there was a complete prohibition on the sale of takeaway alcohol. I was hanging for a beer with dinner tonight, but it looks like I'll be drinking Faroese water instead.
The Faroes were first settled in the 6th century by Irish monks. If those guys had maintained control, you can bet alcohol would have been flowing in the streets to celebrate national flag day. The Vikings, who didn't mind a tipple, arrived here in the 9th century, so I'm going to blame the prohibitionist streak on the reformation. I seem to remember my Year 9 religion teacher (a Christian brother) telling us that the Lutherans enjoyed a bit of temperance. Given that the majority of Faroese are Lutheran Christian I'll stick with that explanation for my day of abstinence.
I must admit I was blind sided by this booze ban in a nation of fisherman, who are usually renowned for their hard living lifestyle. However, even before I arrived on the Faroes, there was one aspect of their culture that I knew something about; these guys are famous for their jumpers. When you live at the end of the earth and you have more sheep than people, by necessity, you become good at knitting. Back in the 18th century, there were only about 5000 people living on these islands. The Faroese economy was pretty much dependent on exporting knitted woolen stockings. In fact the industry was huge, with manufacturers exporting hundreds of thousands of stockings every year. Inevitably, the Faroese stocking business went through the usual booms and busts that come along with capitalism. When busts occur, entrepreneurs get even more entrepreneurial and work out ways to make another dollar. By the late 19th century, the woolen stocking craze was well and truly bust, but fishing was moving from a niche business to the staple industry of the Faroese economy. Fisherman need to be warm and dry and when you can't buy any booze, the only option when you're out at sea, is a warm jumper. By the way, if you want to sound really smart the Faroese, call these fishing jumpers, Skipstroyggjan. Back in the 19th century, the fishermen here went out to sea in open row boats, so they also had to wear woolen gloves to protect them from the cold. Wool has great wickability, so when it gets waterlogged, it keeps some of its insulation qualities. The Faroese treat their wool in such a way as to keep the lanolin content high which makes it even more water resistant. Apparently, back in the day, the most effective treatment was washing the wool in human urine, fortunately they gave it a second rinse in water before it was turned into yarn.
So a fisherman's jumper from the end of the earth has somehow become a fashion item. You'll see everyone from young hipsters in Surry Hills through to well heeled Mosman mums on a morning cappuccino run out and about in their Skipstroyggjan.
I don't think we saw any Skipstroyggjan today, but we did catch some great scenery. The weather was a bit murky and we turned back from our first planned walk just out the back of a town called Fuglafiour. We were heading up a pretty steep hill when a dusting of sleet came through. We decided to take the soft option which was more protected, but it accorded great views of some snow covered peaks on Kalsoy.

Next it was time to take the 30 minute drive to Elduvik. It's a beautiful fishing village complete with lots of intact examples of early fisherman's boat sheds and some pretty cool grass roofed houses. It's hard to believe that the fishing industry originated in these humble sheds and is now the preserve of industrial sized trawlers that are docked at every half decent sized port on the Faroe Islands. There's some great views of Funningsfjordur on the road into Elduvik and although the road is pretty much a single lane construction there's some good pull out spots to grab pics. While in Elduvik we took a nice walk past the boat sheds and the cemetery and then along the cliff edge it gives you another great view of Kalsoy and probably only takes 20 minutes return. Make sure you shut the gates when you go through them.